Many content service providers, such as cable and television companies, provide their customers with devices that are operative to receive content service. One such example is a type of set top box commonly referred to as a “cable box” (or satellite box). Cable boxes are devices that receive a signal, usually a television signal, from television service provider. Cable boxes have traditionally served the purpose of converting the digital cable signal into an analog signal for televisions to display.
Since most modern televisions include digital signal converters, or are capable of displaying video directly from a digital signal, modern cable boxes perform many other functions such as providing video on demand, high definition channels, pay per view content, descrambling, and digital video recording.
Traditional cable boxes have been passive, meaning that they only receive information such as by tuning to a certain television channel. Modern cable boxes provide for two-way communication between the cable box and the service provider, which allows for more interactive services like video on demand to be provided. Modern cable boxes are also addressable, meaning that the service provider can independently identify one box from another.
Up until now, the use of cable boxes has been limited to single, fixed locations, such as a customer's home. In fact, many service contracts prevent customers from moving their cable boxes to a different address. Thus, if a customer would like to watch the same programming at home while traveling, they are unable to do so in a legitimate way.
There do exist, however, questionable, and in some territories illegal, ways of watching content received at home remotely. These products and services are called “place-shifting” products and services, and one such popular product is called Slingbox®, produced by Sling Media®. Place-shifting devices allow consumers to remotely view the content they receive at home by taking an analog audio/video signal, usually received from the cable box, and then broadcasting it to local viewing devices via a local network, or to remote viewing devices via the internet. The legality and legitimacy of place-shifting has been questioned and in some territories has been confirmed illegal, since place-shifting may violate copyright laws, since some content service providers may not have distribution rights in the area where the remote viewing is taking place. Additionally, there is no way for the content owner or the content service provider to know when its subscribers or users are place-shifting, so they are unable to charge fees for said place-shifting or to know whether distribution rights are being violate.